Mr. Lincoln said the objection stated by the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. HALL][2] struck him as being a sound one; and he wished to ascertain if there was anything further to be learned about this claim, for he desired fully to understand it. He understood that the volunteers who served in Mexico were not by any general law entitled to pay for lost horses, and he understood that if this resolution should pass, the Texas volunteers would be entitled to compensation for lost horses. Thus, they would be placed in more favorable circumstances than others.[3]

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Page 469Mr. Lincoln said the payment for these lost horses came within a class of cases in which he was a good deal like a gentleman near him, who was in favor of paying for everything by way of being sure of paying all those that were right. But if this resolution should be passed, and the general law should fail, then everybody but these Texas volunteers would go without their compensation. He was not willing to do anything that would produce such a result. He preferred placing the Texas volunteers on a level with all other volunteers; and, therefore, he should vote for the reconsideration.[4]